Russian Official Links Perm Plane Crash to Engine Fire

September 14, 2008

Text of report by Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS

Perm, 14 September: The crash of the Boeing-727 [as received; should be Boeing-737], according to preliminary data, was linked to technical failure and the right-hand engine catching fire, the chairman of the investigations committee under the Russian Prosecutor’s Office, Aleksandr Bastrykin, said in Perm. He arrived there today and held the first meeting of a team of investigators.

“Judging by the inspection of the incident scene carried out promptly by representatives of the investigations committee under the Prosecutor’s Office, the plane crash was apparently linked to technical failure and the right-hand engine catching fire. A lot is pointing to that,” Bastrykin said.

[A passenger jet on an Aeroflot Nord-operated flight from Moscow to Perm crashed near Perm in the early hours of 14 September, killing all 88 people on board, according to Russian media reports.]

Originally published by ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1454 14 Sep 08.